Cycling Talk Podcast

This week I am joined by Swiss mountain bike rider for Ghost Factory Racing Team Nicole Koller. I'm so grateful to Nicole for sharing the highs and lows of her life in cycling so far. We chat about growing up cycling with her brothers, her progression through the Junior category and becoming the XCO Junior World Champion.  We also chat about moving through under 23 into Elite, racing all over...

I'm back for season 5 of Cycling Talk Podcast where I am joined by Pro and young riders in all disciplines of cycling to share their cycling life story so far. For this episode I am joined by under 23 rider for Great Britain and Trinity Racing, Bob Donaldson. Bob and I chat through his early experiences on the Road and Track through to his progression as an Under 23 including racing in World...

For this special episode I welcome back British Track and Road rider Ben Wiggins. After talking to Ben in early 2022, he joins me again to talk about his time as a Junior in 2022 and 2023. We chat about how he has progressed as a rider and the experiences he has had including being part of Team GB at a number of Nation's Cup events, riding at Track Nationals and racing in Glasgow as part of t...

For this episode I am joined by road rider Rory Townsend who represents Ireland and will be joining Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team for 2024. Rory is well known by British an Irish fans after spending a number of years as part of Wiv SunGod, racing both domestically and around the world. We chat about some of his early memories of racing in Qatar and China, the friendships he has made and what it means to...

In this episode I am joined by young British Road and Track rider, Matthew Brennan. As a youth, Matty enjoyed riding multiple disciplines and achieved some great results in races around the UK before joining Fensham Howes MAS Design race team as a junior. Matty has raced in some of the top junior races in Europe on the road and track, gaining a huge amount of experience both on and off the bike. H...

For this episode I am joined by young British road rider Jack Rootkin-Gray. After seeing Solihull Cycling Club training in his local park, Jack found a love of cycling, joining the club and starting to ride and race with them. As a youth rider Jack enjoyed some strong results including 2nd in the GC in the  Youth Isle of Man stage race and winning National titles on the Track. Jack progressed as a...

This week I am joined by Junior British multi disciple rider Imogen Wolff. Growing up with cycling parents Imogen has always enjoyed being on a bike. After starting out with cyclocross, Imogen soon started racing on the road and then on the track.  Imogen has competed in some huge races for Great Britain including the Road World Championships in Glasgow where she finished 5th and the Cyclocross Wo...

For this episode I am joined by 3 time USA National Crit Champion and Baby Giro Stage winner, Luke Lamperti. Luke and I chat about growing up in California and what it was like racing around the USA, his first trips to race in Europe and joining British Continental team Trinity Racing in 2021. Luke has been with Trinity for 3 seasons, racing in the UK, Europe and Worldwide and has gained a great f...

In this episode I am joined by British road and track rider Ethan Vernon. Ethan started out riding and racing BMX, travelling around the UK and Europe as a child before switching to track and road as a teenager.  At 17, Ethan represented Wales on the track in the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast giving him his first big games experience.  Since then Ethan has switched his focus between track a...

In this episode I am joined by winner of Zwift Academy 2022 and rider for Canyon SRAM, Alex Morrice. After growing up playing netball, Alex joined the university triathlon club and found a love of cycling. Alex joined the weekly Zwift sessions with her workplace and was soon progressing with a coach and became part of the Skoda Academy to help with her development. In 2022, Alex signed up for the...

Ahead of the 2023 Women's World Championship Road Race I am joined by rider for Team SD Worx and 2022 Under 23 World Champion Niamh Fisher-Black. Niamh grew up cycling with her family in New Zealand riding and racing Mountain bike, Cyclocross and Road before representing New Zealand for the first time as a Junior in Herald Sun Tour. Niamh then moved to Europe and based herself in London to ri...

Ahead of the Cycling World Championships in Glasgow I am joined by British multi discipline rider Joe Blackmore. Joe has been riding and racing since a young age and earned his first national podium as an under 16. Since then Joe has raced all over the World as a Junior and now as an Under 23 and has won National titles in both mountain bike and cyclocross. Joe has represented Great Britain in Wor...

In this episode I am joined by young Scottish rider for Team dsm-firmenich, Oscar Onley. Oscar grew up in Kelso and started riding and racing on both road and track in Scotland before competing around the rest of the UK and onto European.  After some great results as a youth rider, Oscar was signed by Team dsm development in 2020. Oscar raced all over Europe and gained experience with the team as...

This week I am joined by junior multi discipline rider from Canada, Ava Holmgren. Ava is one of five children and grew up riding the local mountain bike trails with her family before she started racing locally and then across North America. Following the 2020 Covid lockdowns, Ava moved up to the Junior category and started competing in Cyclocross World Cups in the USA before making her first trip...

For this episode I am joined by rider for the Netherlands and  AG Insurance Soudal Quick-Step, Maaike Boogaard. Maaike and I talk about growing up in the Netherlands and racing in Europe as a Junior before competing in the road World Champs in America. Since progressing to Under 23 and Elite level racing, Maaike has raced all over the World with both her team and representing her country. We talk...

This week I am joined by Scottish rider for Team SD Worx, Anna Shackley. After starting with cyclocross races, Anna quickly began competing in Scotland and the rest of the UK on the road and track as a youth rider. Anna was soon racing in Europe and representing team GB at the Road World Championships before joining Team SD Worx at the end of 2020. Anna has had some great results with the team and...

This week I am joined by British Junior Track and Road Rider Izzy Sharp. Izzy started racing triathlons before focusing on cycling and training with her grandad (who also cycled) as well as friends at the local track. Izzy was soon getting great results as a youth rider including winning the Pembrey 2 day National and winning the National Circuit series before lockdown in 2020. We talk about schoo...

In this Cycling Life Story I am joined by Australian rider for AG Insurance Soudal Quick-Step, Anya Louw. Anya grew up in Tasmania and we chat about what life was like growing up there, travelling by boat to races and how it felt to race in Europe for the first time as a young rider. The Covid pandemic meant that Anya had a long time away from racing in Europe but was able to continue her studies...

This week I am joined by young British rider for Fensham Howes-MAS Design, Jed Smithson. Jed  has been competing since a young age, starting out with Cyclocross before focusing more on the road and track. Since an Under 12 Jed has competed in the UK and Europe with races including Youth Isle of Man and Youth Assen Tour and has had some amazing results through his time as a youth rider. After a str...

In this latest episode I welcome back Kevin Kevin, Cyclocross rider for Tormans CX Team and Switzerland. Kevin was a guest on the podcast back in 2021 and has been making huge progress ever since. In the 2022/23 cross season Kevin got his first Elite World Cup podium as well as finishing inside the top 10 at multiple World Cups and Superprestige rounds. I've loved watching Kevin race this sea...

For this episode I am joined by rider for Team Jayco AlUla, Georgia Baker. Georgia grew up in Tasmania, Australia and quickly progressed her cycling career to represent her country at the Junior Road World Championships in 2012. Combining Track and road racing since a Junior, Georgia has won numerous medals and titles in both and has represented Australia at 2 Olympic Games and 2 Commonwealth Game...

For this special episode I welcome back British Mountain Bike National Champion Cam Orr to talk about his racing in 2022. Cam and I chat about him heading out to South Africa to take on Cape Epic, the toughest mountain bike stage race in the world. We also talk about the years Mountain bike World Cups, including racing in Brazil for the first time and qualifying for his first World Cup Short Track...

This week I am joined by rider for Trek-Segafredo, Elynor Backstedt-Calvert. Growing up with Cycling parents meant Elynor was riding a bike from a very young age and started racing on the road and track with Maindy Flyers. After riding for Backstedt Cycling and Storey Racing, Elynor joined Women's World Tour team Trek-Segafredo in 2020. Elynor has won British National Championship titles as a...

I'm really excited to be joined by one of my favourite female road riders and current European Champion, Lorena Wiebes. After starting out racing cyclocross, Lorena progressed to road and track racing as a Junior rider winning National and European titles in both disciplines. Lorena now focuses on road racing as well as taking part in a few cross races through the winter. With Team DSM, Loren...

This week I am joined by young British rider for Team DSM, Max Poole. Max has been racing since he was under 10, starting out mostly on the track before road racing gradually became the number 1 discipline.  Max has already had a lot of success including winning the National Omnium title and Youth Tour of Scotland,  representing Great Britain in the Junior Road World Championships and winning the...